


Smoke

by AloneShadow



Series: Whumptober 2020 [10]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Bathroom Meetings are a Thing, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Protective Mac, Whumptober 2020, yes they are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:40:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27003676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow
Summary: "That’s when Jack realized that being almost burned alive might have affected him more than he thought."
Series: Whumptober 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948396
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober prompts: N° 14, Fire + N° 18, Panic attacks 
> 
> Possible missing scene scenario. Post season 2, episode 14.

Jack Dalton always thought of himself as a good, trained observer. _Trained_ , because he could spot enemies around easily: people following them; red dots hovering on his partner’s body, or the sun reflecting on a rifle aiming at them... Those were the things he needed to pay attention to, especially as Angus MacGyver's protector- and God knows how easily that kid could turn himself into a target… But also, how easily Mac could compensate for Jack’s lack of attention to some details like hidden timers, or suspicious wires on the walls. That was what _Mac_ was trained for. 

Still, with time, Jack learned how to notice more subtle things, such as someone playing with a paperclip as a way to relieve the stress… Little things that he would have just dismissed as not important years before. 

One of the last things he was learning was to distinguish smells. Chemical smells, in particular. 

Working with Mac, he was now able to recognize a few, and, when Jack told him about it, he found himself surprised about how Mac simply smiled... A _“I was expecting no less from you”_ kind of smile, and Jack would have cherished that for a long time…  
Still, after New Orleans, Jack started to notice something new. Something different. 

The first time happened during a mission: he was following Mac into a building to steal information and everything was going fine until they reached the third floor and Jack froze. 

Turning around, he smelled smoke before actually see any sign of it. His mouth opened slightly and then- 

“Jack, come on!” Mac called from the stairs. 

He looked away and followed him, forcing himself to focus and not look back.

Jack thought nothing of it. He just smelled smoke and checked the area for the fire, as anyone would do. It was probably someone burning their lunch. 

The second time got weirder: Jack was sleeping in his apartment when he woke up smelling smoke again. He jumped out the bed and checked the whole place but there was no sign of fire, nor alarms going off in the building. He kept smelling something burning for hours, and, even after it faded, he couldn’t bring himself to go back to sleep. 

The third time, he was in the car, waiting for Mac and Riley to come back when the smell hit him again, stronger and so sudden he once again froze. Expecting to see fire coming out from beneath the hood, Jack started breathing fast- then the phone rang, Mac’s name appearing on the screen. It took him all his strength, and the thought of his friends being in danger, to shut his eyes and force his arm to move, answering the call with a shaky hand. 

That’s when Jack realized that being almost burned alive might have affected him more than he thought. 

Jack woke up gasping for air, frantically looking around, smelling smoke again. Throwing the blanket away, he was expecting to see flames at his feet, but there was nothing. 

Taking a deep breath, he dropped his head and tried to calm down before checking the clock: it was 3 AM. 

“Damn it…” He murmured standing up. After thinking for a moment, he dressed up and left the apartment. 

He didn’t want to wake up Mac and Bozer, so he drove to the Phoenix HQ. He wasn’t sure of what to do, but if Matty was there, maybe she could give him some advice. 

Once inside the building, nodding at the security agent sitting at the entrance, he opened the door to the main corridor and instantly froze: the smell of smoke hit him like a punch in the stomach. 

_It’s ok. Just my imagination,_ Jack told himself, trying to breathe as slowly and deep as possible, moving forward. _Find Matty... One of her slaps will put me back on track._

Reaching the briefing room without meeting anyone, the smell got stronger- and there was no sign of Matty. 

“She’ll be here soon. I’m sure she’s here…” Jack kept murmuring to himself, standing in the middle of the room; there was no one in the office nearby either. _Someone will come. Someone will come here and tell me I’m imagining things and- and that I’m going crazy over nothing..._

“Jack?” 

He blinked and turned around, finding a puzzled Mac on the doorstep. 

“What are you doing here?” Mac asked. 

“Ah, I… I was looking for Matty.” 

“She’s at home.” 

“She is?” 

Mac nodded slowly, raising his eyebrows, “It’s 3 in the morning.” 

“Right… W-what are _you_ doing here?” 

“I had to finish a few reports. I fall asleep, and then Jill woke me up because there was a problem in the labs, upstairs… They almost set everything on fire.”

Jack blinked. “Fire…?” 

“Yeah. Don’t you smell the smoke?” 

Jack didn’t answer. All he could think of was _Fire. The fire is real_. 

“Jack?” 

“…Mh?” 

“You ok?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, I…” Jack’s smile quickly faded as it was difficult even to swallow. “I can’t…” 

“You can’t…?” Mac echoed, smiling slightly, puzzled, but then his frown became serious as he watched his friend leaning on the couch, holding on it tightly with both hands. “Jack?” he moved closer, Jack's shoulders rising and falling quickly. “You can’t breathe?” 

Jack shook his head in no, shutting his eyes. Hands gently grabbed him and then Jack felt himself being taken somewhere else. He just needed air. Fresh, clean air… That's all he had to say, but, to do that he needed oxygen, and that was running low. _Why I haven’t told him about it? Why I keep it secret like an idiot?_

“Ok, wait here.” 

He heard Mac say and then he was gone. _He’ll be back… He always comes back. He runs away and then comes back…_

Jack noticed the smell of smoke was fading, and that the air was also colder. When he managed to take a decent amount of air in, he opened his eyes, finding himself in the bathrooms, sitting on the toilet cover. 

Looking around, he noticed a few little bowls in front of the cabin he was occupying. A strong smell coming from them, but at least it wasn’t smoke. 

Mac came back then, walking in front of the cabin, checking him up and down. “Feeling better?” 

Jack slowly nodded, gesturing at the bottles, “What…?” 

“Vinegar.” 

“Vinegar?” 

“Yes, it's... It can absorb the smell of smoke.” 

Jack tried to take another deep breath, ending up coughing. 

“Hey, take it easy,” Mac said moving next to him to place a hand on his shoulder. “All the windows are open, and I told Jill to do the same in the office. The air should clear up quickly.” 

“Why… The bathrooms?” 

“The smoke didn't reach the basement. Is not as bad down here as it is upstairs.” Mac said letting him go, making sure the door was wide open before leaning his back against the cabin’s wall. 

Jack slowly started breathing regularly again but refused to meet his eyes. “Thanks…” 

“Not a problem. Can you breathe fine now?” 

“Yeah…” Jack leaned his back against the wall too, keeping his eyes closed. “You’ll think I’m going crazy…” He tried to laugh it off, embarrassed. 

“I don’t,” Mac said. “It’s because of what happened in New Orleans, isn't it?” 

Jack sighed, giving up and meeting his eyes. “You already knew?” 

“Let's say that what happened in that crematory would have messed anyone up a bit,” he said with a little smile that made the other sigh and look down again. “Matty was the one that noticed it first, and told me to keep an eye on you.” 

“And here I thought I fooled everyone.” 

“Jack, you don’t need to do that,” Mac said, more seriously. “You can talk to us- to me-” 

“I know. I know, I just… I thought I could handle this. I mean, this is nothing new…” He didn’t finish that sentence, but managed to take a long, deep breath without coughing. 

Mac thought for a moment. “It’s the smell of smoke, right?” 

Jack nodded, and, looking up, frowned. “Why do you have your _I’ve got an idea_ face on, all of a sudden?” 

“I just thought, I could make you some perfume bags... You know, the little ones. You can take them with you and use it when you need it…” 

“Since when you can make perfume?” 

“It's not that hard. It’s just- chemistry.” 

Jack kept staring at him, and eventually shook his head, smiling, “Sounds like a plan... But if you make a perfume, I'm gonna pick the name for it." 

"Oh no..." Mac groaned. 

" _Dalton Essence n°5_ sounds pretty good, doesn't it?" Jack said, making him laugh. They spent the next few hours in the bathroom, coming up with a _very long_ list of terrible, yet creative names.


End file.
